Zangeneh has said Saudi Arabia is largely to blame for the oil price free fall from highs of above $100 per barrel to around $40 per barrel now.

Exports to Europe rise to 600,000 bpd

On Thursday, the International Energy Agency said Iran’s oil production has risen faster than expected, with preliminary data suggesting a month-on-month rise of 600,000 barrels a day to about 2 million barrels a day.

A global oversupply of crude, however, is still shrinking, the IEA said, citing disruption to production in countries such as Canada and Nigeria.

According to the IEA’s monthly oil-market report, Iran ramped production up by 300,000 barrels a day month-on-month in April, hitting 3.56 million barrels a day.

China was Iran’s largest customer, importing 800,000 barrels a day of crude. The biggest boost, however, came in crude exports to Europe which had halted purchases from Iran under sanctions imposed in 2012.

Deputy Petroleum Minister Rokneddin Javadi said on Saturday Iran had boosted exports to Europe to 600,000 bpd on the back of contracts signed with Russia’s Lukoil, Spain’s Cepsa, Italy’s Saras and Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum.

A contract with Italy’s Eni has also been finalized, with shipments expected to begin soon, while negotiations with BP have just started, the Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

“At the moment, 30% to 35% of Iran’s crude oil sales and exports heads to European markets. In other words, the volume of Iran’s oil exports to Europe is expected to rise to 600,000 bpd by the end of Ordibehesht (May 20).”

Javadi said Iran is currently exporting 2.5 million bpd of oil and condensate to European and Asian markets in total.

“Right now, Asia is Iran’s primary market and after that Europe is considered the second market for sales of Iranian crude in the post-sanction period.”

Glencore, Vitol seek long-term contracts

Another official said Swiss-based Glencore and Vitol, two of Iran’s biggest oil trading partners before sanctions, are close to signing a long-term deal to purchase Iranian crude.

Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs for the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was quoted as saying that the sides were working to iron out main issues in their trade.

One of the issues is that NIOC wants to choose the destination of the crude that it sells Glencore and Vitol, he said.